Finals start

Today is "dead day" - the day when 24 hour quiet hours are instated and enforced pretty much campus wide and most people seem to be staying in their rooms studying anyway. We get today off, then finals start tomorrow. I have a paper to turn in tomorrow, then both math and chem finals on Monday, two days of glorious nothing, then my engineering final on Thursday, then I'm coming home! I've almost made it through my first semester of college. Crazy.
Finals week here is an event - there was a "Kickoff party" yesterday with a zip line, bounce houses, food, and swag. Tonight, the cafeteria is offering a free pancake dinner at 10. Pretty much every coffee shop on campus is offering free coffee. Almost every night this week, the library will have snacks, board games, and everyone's favorite, therapy dogs. On Wednesday next week, there's even free yoga in the bookstore! I don't know if all this stuff is a good thing, because the university cares about our well being, or a bad thing, like they can't have too many people doing crazy things because they are stressed. I think it's the former, but I'm not sure.
This past week, I went to see the a capella groups' fall concert. All four groups were amazing. The best performance by far was Amplified A Capella's rendition of "Royal" by Lorde. Notoriety, the oldest and biggest group, was also pretty good and is apparently going to National competition.
I also got the chance to see the both improv groups at the U of A - the Charles Darwin Experience and Comedy Corner. They both do a lot of the same stuff and are both really good. However, although the Comedy Corner people cuss more during their show, the Darwins are undeniably dirtier. Other than that, Darwin is pretty much Comedy Corner with more marketing and funding and music.
Update on the Doctor Who Musical - I'm in! Even better, I have a named part who was actually in the TV show. I am Sarah Jane Smith, a recurring companion to  the Doctor who first appeared with the Third Doctor then appeared sporadically throughout the rest of the series. I'm really excited about this!
I also have finalized my schedule for next semester. I'm taking Intermediate Spanish Conversation, Calculus 2, Solid State Chemistry, Introductory Mechanics (Physics), Intro to CAD (computer aided design), and doing the Honors Freshman research project for a total of 18 units. I am planning on being busy. Those classes seem like they are going to be a lot of fun, and I am looking forward to them.
I am also really looking forward to seeing a lot of you when I come home for Christmas!

Winter - almost

I've reached over 1500 views!
You can tell it's winter not by the weather or the lights, but by the paper snowflakes scattered around the dorm, everyone's antsyness about finals, and the not-Starbucks coffee shop is selling hot chocolate "complete with candy cane and gender-neutral snow-being shaped marshmallows." I should be studying right now, but I need a bit of a brain break, and hey, I'm practicing my "composition" for Honors Frosh Comp!
Against my better judgement, I auditioned for "Not a Doctor Who Musical!!!" (yes, with three exclamation points). The people running the audition seemed very impressed with my over-dramatic rendition of "Jabberwocky," by Lewis Carroll, and somewhat pleased with my song. I think I have a good chance of landing Donna or Amy. If nothing else, I' be a pretty good Weeping Angel. I promised myself that I'd get back into musicals/acting when I got into college because I loved doing them so much in middle school, and this was the perfect chance. I'll see if anything comes out of it.
I am done with Chemistry labs... FOREVER! (I'm taking a material science course next semester instead). I think I did pretty well on my lab final, which involved analyzing samples of "blood" for their iron and copper levels. Much easier than it sounds. That was a huge relief.
I only really have finals in three classes, which is nice, although I have a presentation tomorrow in English on my research project from earlier in the year, which shouldn't be too difficult. I'm most worried about my engineering final, though, because unlike most classes, that class seems to be made up of a bunch of unrelated topics that were kind of just thrown at us. I'm not too worried about math or the chem lecture finals.
Apparently Kim Kardashian was on campus this week. Apparently, she went here. Apparently, there was a "crowd" following her, but it was "not as big as was expected." Apparently, not enough people care. I don't.
Mark Zuckerberg visited Stanford this week. Social media exploded. He should have come here. I'm not jealous at all. No, really, I'm not.
I can't wait for winter break when I get to see my family and not worry about schools so much. Still working on getting a ride, but I'll make it out to SoCal somehow. It will be a ton of fun to see all my old friends again and chill.
Happy birthday to my dad! Hope it was a good one.

Water, Water, Everywhere

Before anyone asks, no, I was not at the Oregon game.

It rained almost this whole weekend, stopping, coincidentally, right before the game started. Before that, it was pouring buckets, there were rivers in the streets, and it was cold and beautiful. 

Friday started out the kind of day that was just a little cloudy, almost drizzly. By the time I was done with my first class, the sky was falling. And there I was, chillin' in my shorts and light jacket. That walk across campus was... um... invigorating. 

I helped run design challenges that day for a high school field trip with SWE (yes, there comes a time in every STEM excursion where someone breaks out the marshmallows/gumdrops and spaghetti) , and most of them looked at me like I was insane. Granted, my hair was wet, my skin was red, and my jacket was soaked, but I wasn't the worst off. It was fun.

On Saturday, I went to all the various tailgates and held out in the cold and the rain. I decided I had has enough, and since it was cold and wet and going to be a blowout (Eugene-ish weather, after all) and I hadn't gone to a build day in a week, I would go build with the Rube club during the game. 

I guess it turned out to be a great game and we won and the rain stopped just in time and Ka'deem Carey broke the U of A rushing record. I guess I should stop going to games. 

On the other hand, we rigged a two-switch system that turned itself on and off, which is pretty cool, and made a new sea monster.

Today, Sunday, the Gila soccer team had its first (and unfortunately, last) playoff game. We fought valiantly despite only having 7 players instead of the usual 9 and playing on a field still gushy from the rain and it being really cold. The final score was 7-3, and we held off the other team until they earned a free kick right outside the penalty box about halfway through the first half. So, for being two men down, we did pretty well. 

It looks like it might rain again tomorrow. It's a nice change from the 90 degree+ weather we've been having.

You know how you tell the out-of-staters from the in-staters? When it's raining, the out-of-staters are not in long pants and are smiling. When it's burning hot, the in-staters are wearing jeans and hoodies and complaining.

   

Some Time to Breathe

The semester's gone by so fast. In a few weeks, I'll be taking finals and finish off my first semester of college. It doesn't seem like it's been that long since I got here. I've kept busy, though, and time flies when you're having fun, right?
I had some time this week, so I decided to go explore a little by the fine arts buildings. There's tons of beautiful art and random statues all over. Even the chairs and benches look like more than chairs and benches. As I was walking along, I heard some clanging noises, Apparently, I had walked into a theatrical swordplay class. I stayed and watched for a few minutes, and the people in the class were doing some pretty amazing things.
It's finally starting to get cold enough where jeans and a t-shirt or shorts and hoodies are acceptable and needed. The weather is causing some beautiful sunsets. It's actually supposed to rain a little tomorrow, which I'm really excited about.
This past week, I aced a math test and did okay on my chemistry exam.
The Rube camping trip this past weekend was a ton of fun. We roasted scores of marshmallows, brats, hot dogs, and pine needles (very smoky), played mountaintop charades, and basically hung out and had fun.
I have proof that I can make deliciousness without destroying kitchens or even making too much of a mess. This weekend, the Gila Hall Council hosted a pie making contest, with a few of the Resident Assistants and the Community Director as judges. I made a pretty dang good peanut butter chocolate pie, which had a severe disadvantage because, unbeknownst to me, the CD hates peanut butter. I won for presentation, and all the pies were delicious, so...

The soccer team is going to playoffs, starting this Sunday. That's going to be a ton of fun. I'll post results when we win.
It's almost Thanksgiving, and I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone. I probably won't post next week because of that. Maybe I'll post something bonus in between.
That's all for now, folks!

Stories Unfolding

I'm actually posting on time this week - woohoo!
For thoughts/notes/rants about my first college homecoming weekend, see previous post.
I am looking for a story to tell - one that's my own, but not about me. I have to write an original fiction piece for English, and that finally gives me the excuse to finish a story. I really like where the one I'm writing is going. It's somewhat scifi, and I'll post it once it's done. I think it will turn out really well. The only problems are that, although I have great setting and decent characters, they have no problems so far. I'll have to be meaner to them.
I'm going camping this weekend with the Rube Goldberg club up by Mt. Lemmon. It's supposed to be cold, but I think it will be a ton of fun. Before that, though I have a chem test that I think I am ready for. I'm tired of staring at Lewis structures, but I can do them quickly and accurately. The camping trip will be a nice brain break.
I'm also hosting another high schooler this Sunday night. The College of Engineering really likes to show off the "E-zone" where I live, and most of the time, I'm happy to oblige. It's usually fun. Also this Sunday, the Hall Council is hosting a pie baking contest. I am participating, making a chocolate peanut butter pie that looks pretty easy (although it doesn't involve any actual baking).
This week has otherwise been pretty quiet - lots of homework, so not much else got done.
By the way, here's a slightly better picture of the Gila soccer team (we beat Theta Tau this Monday - we were so intimidating that they didn't even show up - we're 2-1). I'm #4 in the bottom row:

I am looking forward to being done with all these tests and papers after this week. I'm working on fixing the rest of the pictures. Have a good week, and thanks to all the people who read! Apparently, I have a much wider audience than I thought.

P.S. Solar oven pictures from a few posts down should be fixed and working. Apparently using pictures from URLs don't work from password protected university websites makes it so nobody can see them. Sorry about that.

Thoughts on Homecoming and More

Soooo...
Homecoming was this weekend at my school. It is a huge deal, and is one of the few times the campus would have an average age over 25. Tons of stuff going on, lots of people, a good amount of food (free or otherwise). The best part about the weekend was seeing my parents for the first time in a few months. That was absolutely fantastic and a good cure to any lingering homesickness (which I've pretty much gotten over by this point). Huge thanks to them for coming out.
The week before homecoming, the Mall got taken over by hoards of space-ravenous white tents and tables, as well as their handlers and transportation. Some of the quickest routes to classes were cut off by fences and caution tape.
The Club Olympics also went on the week before - I would walk past the stage in the middle of the mall and see people stuffing their faces with pie or trying to burp the loudest or pulling a tug-of-war rope in an improvised mud patch (it's been too hot to have much real mud). It was interesting seeing one of my friends, who's on Freshman Class Council, spinning around on a bat then trying to go through an obstacle course.
The Friday before the game, the men's basketball team played their opening game against Cal Poly SLO. We won handily, but they had one guy who could land threes like nobody's business, making it a much better game than most people thought it would be. I learned a lot of the cheers and "traditions" (boink boink boink PASS!) and realized the crowd is just as much a part of the game as anyone on the court.
So now we come to Homecoming Day. I was up earlier than I have ever been on a weekend so that I could help finish up the mini-Rube machine the Rube Goldberg Club planned to exhibition later on in the day. (Apparently, I drew a really good Heisenberg [from "Breaking Bad"{no, I have not seen it}] "Wanted" poster). My parents saw the big machine, and seemed pretty impressed. Went shopping, came back, and explored what was being put inside the white tents scattered across the Mall.
A lot of Greek orgs, the alumni association, some clubs and other campus related organizations had tents. I hung out mostly at the College of Engineering tent, where there was tons of free food (and the mini-Rube machine was being shown), though I probably walked the whole mall at least five times (mostly for the free eegees from the Campus Health tent).
Saw the parade - you could tell who actually planned out floats more than a week in advance and who just thought "oh great, Homecoming parade is this week - lets throw some paper mache together and call it a float!" The best float was definitely the Outdoor Adventures club (or something like that) who had a full on Jurassic Park scene with moving parts - very impressive.
The actual football game was pretty exciting. I sat with people from church. The energy in the student section is intense. We lost, but it was a good game.
Overall, Homecoming seems to be more about the alums than the actual students, but I guess that's how it should be. It's about the people who actually go here most of the time, anyway. I wasn't super impressed with the Homecoming activities, but it's got to be a lot more exciting and emotional from the other side. It was a good experience, and I have come away from it very full-filled.

Official Solar Oven Throw Down Photos

Every year, all the engineering freshmen at the University of Arizona participate in the Solar Oven Throw down and compete to see who can build the most efficient, most precise, and cheapest oven out of household materials. This oven is made of cardboard, duct tape, Mylar, black paper, painters tape, and aluminum foil. We won second in our class as well as an award for teamwork.
Here's Carry On My Wayward Sun, with the prototype oven Kansas (Temp 208.7 degrees C):

Here's just the oven:

Here's us at the official Solar Oven Throw Down with the completely remade Kansas 2.0 (Temp 201.7 degrees C):

(Yes, there are only three of us. The other guy dropped.)
And here's just the oven, as decorated by Savanna:

There's also a decent picture of me, and official results here.